Profile

A Study of Leisure During Adulthood

Publications

Gaylene Carpenter is Professor Emerita in Arts and Administration where she teaches courses in arts program theory and event management. Before the University of Oregon, Dr. Carpenter taught at Temple University in Philadelphia, at the University of California-Davis, San Jose State University, and California State University, Long Beach. She is a Certified Leisure Professional with the National Recreation and Park Association and the Oregon Recreation and Park Association, is a founding Board Member for the Oregon Festival and Event Association, and a member of the International Festivals and Events Association. She is author of a number of articles, co-authored two textbooks, and presented sessions at a number of workshops related to leisure programming, festival, and event management in British Columbia and Nova Scotia, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the U.S. She has received awards for distinguished service to the Pacific Northwest Region of the National Recreation and Park Association, the American Association for Leisure and Recreation, and was presented with the prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award given by the Society of Park and Recreation Educators. In 1997, she was invited to become a Senior Fellow in the American Academy of Leisure.

As Principal Investigator for A Study of Leisure During Adulthood (ASOLDA), Dr. Carpenter heads up the only longitudinal study of its kind designed to examine change and continuity in leisure and life perceptions, values and wants out of life, and life experiences for middle aged adults. Through this work, she has presented a number of papers reporting study findings at various national and international leisure research symposia, journal publications, university settings, and for community groups. She edited two special publications on Adult Leisure for AALR and the World Leisure and Recreation Association. It is through her research interests that she participates as a member of the Women's Health and Development Research Interest Group through the Center for the Study of Women in Society. She works collaboratively with others who share her research interest through (1) ongoing dialogue with others interested in life span development as applied to adults' lives and leisure perceptions, and (2) in accessing existing ASOLDA data in research efforts associated with adults' values and life experiences.